Sandy M’s review of Someone Knows by Vi Keeland
Romantic Suspense published by Atria/Emily Bestler Books 17 Jun 25
I’m quite happy to find another romance author who turns a bit scary with some new romantic suspense/thrillers. Their imaginations make branching out one heck of a read for fans. My favorite who did this a few years ago is HelenKay Dimon aka Darby Kane. She’s right up there with Nora Roberts, Sandra Brown, and Iris Johansen when it comes to weaving intense suspense into their works. Now I’ve added Vi Keeland. This book won’t let you put it down until you’re thoroughly spooked.
The blurb below pretty tells the bones of the story. Ms. Keeland does a fantastic job of giving us just enough backstory of three friends who looked out for each other but have not had any contact in 20 years because of their shared tragic history. But someone knows. And that someone is on Elizabeth’s tail, making her do things she’d never thought she’d do since that awful night. It’s eerie to read Elizabeth’s life/memories from all those years ago, watching her realize her secrets are no longer safe.
Also well done are all the suspects Elizabeth comes across when she heads back to Louisiana, the scene of the crime. Just when you think she might figure it all out, you’re twisted one way and then another, throwing her/your logic on its head. And that happens over and over again throughout this book. You’ll be short of breath for all the back and forth thrown at you, making you – and Elizabeth – start all over again trying to figure out what the hell is going on.
Now, all that being said, there is definitely a bit of romance. Elizabeth doesn’t trust easily of course, and she’s still quite the control freak when it comes to relationships. There’s Sam, the NY cop, and then there’s – surprise! – Noah, the son of the dead professor Elizabeth wishes she could forget. Yeah, that one will make you blink twice. But both men have their good points, and Elizabeth just has to decide if it’s all worth it in the end to keep one of them in her life. And don’t forget there will more of those epic twists and turns. Then there’s the ending. Ms. Keeland couldn’t resist that one last twist.
I had no idea this author has written another romantic suspense, The Unraveling, and it’s already on my iPhone. I hope she continues in this vein in between her regular romances for quite some time to come.
Grade: A
Summary:
As a college English professor, Elizabeth looks forward to the start of each new semester teaching her creative writing seminar. At least until she reads chapter one of The Reckoning, a tale about a high school senior who has an affair with her teacher. To anyone else it would be the beginning of a great page-turner, but to Elizabeth it is the beginning of the end.
She knows this story. It’s all familiar because she lived it. The girl in the story was her best friend Jocelyn, and Elizabeth knows exactly how the story will end—with the professor dead. Because she was the one who killed him.
Someone knows what Elizabeth did twenty years ago and her secret is about to be exposed, but who is the mystery student submitting the chapters? In an effort to find out, Elizabeth returns to her Louisiana hometown where it soon becomes clear that no matter how many years have gone by, she can’t escape her past.
